Instagram has announced the expansion of Teen Accounts in India to enhance safety measures for young users. The new feature is aimed at creating a more secure and age-appropriate space for teenagers while offering parents better control over their children’s online activities.

Key Highlights of Instagram Teen Accounts

• Teen users will automatically be placed in the highest safety settings to prevent age misrepresentation and limit exposure to sensitive content.
• Parents can approve changes for users under 16, monitor recent conversations, set screen time limits, and restrict app usage during specific hours.
• Built-in protections will ensure better privacy, controlled interactions, and improved content filtering for teenagers.

Stronger Safety Measures for Young Users

Instagram’s Teen Accounts initiative is a part of its commitment to online safety, launched on Safer Internet Day 2025. The feature will be rolled out in phases across India to provide a safer social media experience.

With increasing concerns over cyberbullying, harmful content exposure, and privacy risks, Instagram aims to offer teenagers strict safety settings by default. The feature also gives parents greater control over their child’s digital habits.

Built-in Protections for Teen Accounts

1. Default Private Accounts

Teen accounts will be set to private mode automatically. This means:

• Teenagers will have to approve new followers.
• Non-followers cannot view or interact with their content.
• This rule applies to all users under 16 (existing and new) and those under 18 when signing up.

2. Stricter Messaging Controls

To limit unwanted interactions, Instagram has implemented strictest messaging settings, ensuring that:

• Teens can only receive messages from people they follow or have already interacted with.
• Unknown users cannot send direct messages or start a conversation.

3. Sensitive Content Restrictions

Teen users will automatically be placed in the highest content restriction settings to limit exposure to:

• Violent content (such as physical fights).
• Cosmetic surgery promotions and similar sensitive topics.
• Sexually suggestive material and self-harm discussions (even if shared by a followed account).

These filters will apply across Explore, Reels, and Feed sections.

4. Limited Tagging and Mentions

To prevent online harassment and bullying, Instagram has:

• Restricted tagging and mentions only to people the teen follows.
• Enabled Hidden Words feature by default to automatically filter offensive language in comments and DMs.

5. Screen Time and Sleep Mode

Instagram is introducing time management features for teenagers, including:

• Daily time limit reminders prompting users to exit the app after 60 minutes of usage.
• Sleep Mode from 10 PM to 7 AM, which will:
  • Mute all notifications during this period.
  • Automatically respond to DMs, informing contacts that the user is inactive.

Supervision Tools for Parents

Instagram has expanded its Parental Supervision Tools, giving parents greater control over their teen’s experience.

1. Parental Approval for Safety Changes

For users under 16, any changes to reduce safety restrictions will require parental approval.

• Parents of teens 16+ can enable supervision at any time and manually review safety settings.
• Soon, parents will be able to directly adjust these settings for even stronger protections.

2. Monitoring Recent Conversations

Parents will have the ability to:

• View a list of people their teen has messaged in the last 7 days (without reading the message content).

3. Setting Daily Screen Time Limits

Parents can:

• Set time limits for app usage, preventing further access once the limit is reached.

4. Blocking Instagram During Certain Hours

Parents will also be able to:

• Restrict Instagram access at specific times, such as during study hours or bedtime.

Stronger Age Verification Measures

To prevent age misrepresentation, Instagram is enhancing its age verification process.

• If a teen tries to create an account with an adult birthdate, additional verification steps will be required.
• This will ensure that all teen users are placed under appropriate safety settings.

Content Moderation for Age-Appropriate Experience

Alongside age verification, Instagram is also enhancing content moderation to provide an age-appropriate experience.

• Stricter community guidelines will ensure that harmful content is flagged and removed.
• Sensitive content filters will be at the strictest level by default, ensuring limited exposure to:
  • Sexual content
  • Self-harm discussions
  • Violence-related content

Even if such content is shared by a followed account, it will remain hidden for teens.

Expert Opinions on Instagram Teen Accounts

Mansi Zaveri, Founder & CEO, Kidsstoppress.com

“Teen safety online is a growing concern for parents. Instagram’s new Teen Accounts feature is a step in the right direction. Strengthening privacy settings, limiting unwanted interactions, and adding parental supervision tools can help create a safer space for young users.”

Uma Subramanian, Co-Founder & Director, RATI Foundation

“These updates add an extra layer of security and represent a step toward strengthening online safety. While balancing teen autonomy and protection is challenging, this initiative is a positive move in the right direction.”

Instagram’s Teen Accounts initiative marks a significant step in ensuring a safe and responsible social media environment for young users. By implementing stricter privacy settings, age-appropriate content controls, and enhanced parental supervision, the platform aims to reduce risks associated with cyberbullying, online harassment, and sensitive content exposure.

As digital safety remains a key concern, Instagram’s continued commitment to youth protection is expected to bring positive changes in the way teenagers interact online.